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John 17 · a question people ask

"that they may all be one" (17:21). Who are "they", and what is the oneness Jesus prays for?

In the text

Jesus says whom he prays for: "Not for these only do I pray, but for those also who will believe in me through their word" (17:20). He prays "that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me" (17:21). He says it again: "that they may be one, even as we are one" (17:22), and "I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one, that the world may know that you sent me and loved them, even as you loved me" (17:23). John 17 says no more of what this oneness is, or how it is seen, than these words, and these notes don't either. Favor applies these words to no church, denomination or movement today.

The verses

““Not for these only do I pray, but for those also who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that you sent me. The glory which you have given me, I have given to them, that they may be one, even as we are one, I in them, and you in me, that they may be perfected into one, that the world may know that you sent me and loved them, even as you loved me.”
John 17:20-23 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of John 17

John 17: I pray for them

Jesus's prayer in John 17 has the verb give 17 times: the Father has given the Son authority, people, the work, the words, his name and glory, and the Son has given them the words and the glory (17:2-24).

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Last reviewed October 2, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions